Kaitlynne Mae Jennings was born into a family on Oct. 19th 2004 at New Castle Hospital. She is the daughter of Krystal Pollitt (Smith) and Jeb Jennings. When born Kaitlynne had 2 brothers, Owen Michael and Ethan Gordon and a sister Kiah SueAnne. Kaitlynne was taken home to her wonderful family and lived in Jacksonburg for approximately 2 1/2 years. Living there she loved to play outdoors with her brothers and sister. Her mommy also did alot of babysitting so she also got to play with her cousins: Cedderek J. and Kaylee and Kelsey and Taylor and Shaylin. Everyday they would play on the Trampoline, on the little slide, on the swingset, which Kaitlynne loved her little blue swing so much. The family would have family cookouts often with late night bonfires and special backyard camping that all the children enjoyed. Kaitlynne was so full of life and energy. She was one that always had a smile on her face; right along with all the food that she was always getting into. Kaitlynne sure loved to eat, as most of you probably know, she loved her Cheeseburgers from McDonald's. About a year before she passed, Kaitlynne's Mommy and Daddy decided to go separate ways. Kaitlynne lived in New Castle with her mommy and her brothers and sister. Kaitlynne and her brothers and sisters always enjoyed going to there daddy's on the weekends though too. Yes, the other 3 children loved Jeb as there daddy too. About 6 months ago Kaitlynne's Mommy Krystal began dating a man, you all know his name by now; Jeremy Hoots of New Castle. Now what is said to have happened these past 6 months is still under investigation. As all have there own opinion, this is the alleged story. Sometime in December while Kaitlynne was at her daddys with her brothers and sister, Kaitlynne had to be taken to the doctor for a common cold. Upon being examined at the Doctors office, she was found with several bruises. Of course everyone gets concerned with. CPS was called and Kaitlynne was told to remain with the other 3 children in Jebs care until a decision and investigation could be made on what exactly the bruises were. The very next day, CPS released all 4 children back to Krystal with reasoning that all bruises seemed to be normal playful bruises. What "MAY" have been discovered that day, could have "POSSIBLY" saved her life if Jeremy hadn't put Kaitlynne back to bed and left her their to die. On December 17th, the whole family went through the most horrific tragedy. Early that morning, the detectives are alleging that Jeremy Hoots, Abused Kaitlynne at the mothers home. Krystal found Kaitlynne around 11 am unresponsive in her bed and Jeremy no where to be found. He took off in Krystals van and didn't return home until he was called by a neighbor friend informing him that police and ambulance were at the apartment. Kaitlynne was rushed to The Henry County Hospital and from there was airflighted to Methodist Childrens Hospital. Kaitlynne was diagnosed with 2 Fractured Skulls, a broken neck, her arm was broken in 2 places and spinal injuries and that was just the beginning. Kaitlynne was put on Life Support. Kaitlynne surrounded by all of her family, many prayers from friends all over the United States, Candles lit from family, friends, and strangers, was able to fight so hard for 4 days. On December 21, 2007 Kaitlynne Mae Jennings was taken off the life support, she was able to peacefully pass in her Mother and Fathers arms at 6:12pm, a Friday evening. (PLEASE KEEP IN MIND, JEREMY IS BEING CHARGED A CLASS A FELONY, WITH A $140,000 BOND, WHICH COULD SENTENCE HIM 30-50 YEARS IF CONVICTED. AT THIS TIME, HE HAS NOT BEEN CONVICTED AT THIS TIME. HIS HEARING IS SOMETIME IN APRIL 2008) The Medical Examiner has finished her Autopsy, and as Jeremy had told Detectives, "Kaitlynne was wresting with the brothers and fell off the Top Bunk Bed", well that has been ruled out. The autopsy is showing that the reasoning for her death was caused from BLUNT FORCE TRAMA to the HEAD; which they state couldn't have happened from a fall off a bunk bed. The media has brought out the worst about this tragedy with Kaitlynne about her mother. Krystal was charged with neglect charges and was put on probation. But what everyone needs to keep in mind about Krystal is that she trusted a man who didn't work and stayed at home to take care of her kids while she worked, not one job- but two. Krystal had worked late the night before Kaitlynne passed, therefore, she got home between 3 and 4 am from work and trusted Jeremy to take care of her children that morning. This was not anything that she ever expected to happen when laying her head down to finally go to sleep that morning. Kaitlynne will be dearly missed by all those who loved and knew her. She was an absolute Angel. Courtesy of Lost1Jazz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2OQbvYigig

Last edited by lindamarie on Thu Sep 16, 2010 7:20 am; edited 3 times in total

OMG, how sad! She is a beautiful little girl! Yet another horrible tragedy at the hands of a mothers boy friend!

Reading stories like these make me have to admit that I fear for the safety of my nieces safety. Their mother's boyfriend creeps me out and the girls have already been taken from them once because there was a bruise in the shape of a hand on the oldest girls thigh. They tried to play it off like she fell off a play structure, but the bruise was in a perfect hand shape.

My brother has told me, that the boyfriend is the primary disciplinary person of their moms house and that scares the CRAP out of me. Plus I know how naive and selfish the mother is, so that makes it even harder.

CritterFan1 wrote: so these are your brother's kids and they are being ill treated by the BF? Honey, send 'the man" over there to talk to him, he is big enough to scare anyone, esp someone that beats on kids, sissy boy.

I would be in his face every chance I could get. Look the kids over, talk to them on a regular basis.

The family of a 3-year-old Henry County girl who police said was beaten to death by her mother's boyfriend is upset the man is now being offered a plea deal.Jeremiah Hoots, 31, was originally charged with felony battery in the December 2007 death of the daughter of his then-girlfriend, Krystal Pollitt, 3-year-old Kaitlynne Jennings.He could have faced 50 years in prison if convicted on that charge. But earlier this week, Hoots was offered a plea deal of 12 years in prison with six suspended, two years suspended on probation and one of those years on home detention, 6News' Derrik Thomas reported."Until after the hearing, I don't want to make any comment about the plea agreement and how it was arrived at," said Henry County Deputy Prosecutor Jim Millikan in a statement.Hoots told investigators that the girl was hurt while wresting with her brothers, but an autopsy showed that she suffered two skull fractures, bleeding in the brain and a broken neck.The girl's mother, who was charged with felony neglect of a dependent in the death, and her family want the judge to reject the plea deal."I was appalled. I never, ever thought he would be offered a plea bargain like that," Pollitt said."We would love to see it go to trial," said Karol Messer, Kaitlynne's grandmother. "We're going to fight for her. We're going to fight for her until the end."Hoots' guilty plea hearing is set for Nov. 24, 2009.

_________________I've never been willing to sacrifice functionality for beauty ~ My Father

A Henry County judge on Tuesday rejected a plea deal in the death of a 3-year-old girl who police said was beaten to death by her mother's boyfriend.Jeremiah Hoots, 31, was originally charged with felony battery in the December 2007 death of the daughter of his then-girlfriend, Krystal Pollitt, 3-year-old Kaitlynne Jennings, 6News' Derrik Thomas reported.The crime carries a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison, but in October, Hoots was offered a plea deal of 12 years in prison with six suspended, two years suspended on probation and one of those years on home detention.At what was supposed to be his guilty plea hearing on Tuesday, Judge Mary Willis rejected the plea deal and set a jury trial for February.Pollitt's family had been trying to get the deal overturned since it was announced."She's probably proud and happy we're fighting for her," Pollitt said of her daughter after learning the deal had been rejected.

Kaitlynne JenningsHoots' attorneys maintain that the girl died after she was pushed off a five-foot-tall bunk bed by one of her brothers, even though an autopsy showed that she suffered two skull fractures, bleeding in the brain and a broken neck.They said prosecutors are just looking for someone to blame."We no longer have accidents. It doesn't matter if someone is 89 years old and dies in a nursing home. The doctor was incompetent," said attorney Mick Alexander. "Someone has to be the blame any more ever since Jerry Springer got on TV."Pollitt was charged with felony neglect of a dependent in the deathA pretrial hearing was set for Hoots on Jan. 7, 2009.

The mother of a 3-year-old New Castle girl who authorities said was beaten to death in December faces a felony charge of neglect of a dependent.Krystal A. Pollitt, 27, had an initial court hearing on Friday and was being held in the Henry County Jail under a $50,000 bond.Her live-in boyfriend, Jeremiah A. Hoots, 29, has been charged with a felony count of battery in connection with the death of Kaitlynne Jennings.Prosecutors said Hoots beat Kaitlynne on Dec. 17. The girl died a few days later.An autopsy found the girl had two skull fractures, bleeding in the brain and a broken neck. Hoots told investigators that the girl was hurt while wresting with her brothers.One of the victim's two young brothers told investigators Hoots had tried to persuade him to take the blame for the girl's injuries.

_________________I've never been willing to sacrifice functionality for beauty ~ My Father

The trial of a New Castle man accused of fatally beating his girlfriend's three-year-old daughter will not be conducted in Henry County.

Prosecutor Kit Crane last week agreed to a request by attorneys for Jeremiah A. Hoots to hold the trial elsewhere as a result of extensive pre-trial publicity.

Crane and defense attorneys Michael J. "Mick" Alexander and Donald McClellan will try to agree upon a new location for the trial prior to a Thursday pre-trial hearing in Henry Circuit Court.

Hoots, 31, has been in jail for more than two years awaiting trial on two battery charges filed after he allegedly severely beat Kaitlynne Jennings in the apartment he shared with the victim's mother on Dec. 17, 2007.

The girl died four days later in an Indianapolis hospital.

Two weeks ago, Crane's office filed two additional battery charges against Hoots, accusing him of harming the child on two occasions before the events that led to her death.

Judge Mary Willis in November rejected a plea agreement that called for Hoots to plead guilty to neglect of a dependent and receive a six-year prison term.

Alexander and McClellan have maintained a fall from a bunk bed, not their client, caused the girl's fatal injuries.

A New Castle man accused of fatally beating his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter was charged Tuesday with hurting the child in incidents that took place before the events leading to her December 2007 death.

Jeremiah A. Hoots, 32, is charged in Henry Circuit Court with two counts of battery, one a Class B felony carrying a standard 10-year prison term and the other a Class D felony carrying a standard 18-month sentence.

The more serious of the new charges alleges Hoots seriously hurt Kaitlynne Jennings between Dec. 3 and Dec. 7, 2007, about two weeks before she suffered the injuries that caused her death.

Court documents allege that at some point between those dates, the girl's mother, Krystal Anne Pollitt, returned home to find her daughter shivering and wrapped in a blanket, apparently unable to speak.

Hoots said the girl had slipped and fallen in the bathtub, the documents allege, and then insisted that Pollitt drive him to work instead of taking her daughter to the hospital.

Other relatives later took her to a hospital, and a physician who months later reviewed a CAT scan taken at that time said it showed evidence of a skull fracture.

In the new Class D felony charge, Hoots is accused of spanking the girl, then 2 years old, on Sept. 17, 2007, apparently after she urinated on a floor.

The documents filed Tuesday were accompanied by photographs showing bruises on the child's forehead and buttocks.

Hoots has been jailed for more than two years awaiting trial on two battery charges filed after he allegedly severely beat Kaitlynne in the New Castle apartment he shared with her mother on Dec. 17, 2007.

The child died four days later in an Indianapolis hospital.

The most serious of the 2007 battery charges is a Class A felony carrying a standard 30-year prison term. Hoots' defense attorneys, Michael J. "Mick" Alexander and Donald McClellan, have maintained the girl's fatal injuries came in a fall from a bunk bed.

Circuit Court Judge Mary Willis last month rejected a proposed plea agreement that would have resulted in dismissal of the original battery charges against Hoots. Under the terms of the deal, he instead would have pleaded guilty to neglect of a dependent, a Class B felony, and received a six-year prison term.

Alexander and McClellan have since requested their client's trial on the original charges, now set for Feb. 2, be moved out of Henry County. A hearing on that motion is set for Dec. 30.

I'm going to say it again. This mother, who should not IMO have had her sentence for "neglect of a dependent" suspended, was more interested in the man that she was sharing a bed with than the welfare of her children. There was previous abuse of Kaitlynne by Jeremiah A. Hoots, before the final abuse that killed her. Why did her mother allow this man to stay in the house with her children, when he was a danger to them? Kaitlynne's death is as much her fault as Jeremiah's. There doesn't seem to be anything more important to some women than "having a man".... at any cost! This is disgusting! I wonder if the mother has replaced Jeremiah with another creep?

_________________I've never been willing to sacrifice functionality for beauty ~ My Father

And yes Kaitlynnes so called mother is pregnant with another loser> what makes me sick is her family is making her seem like a victim also..The only victims in the whole thing are the kids..she made the choice to be with him and take him over her kids..looked past the bruises on kaitlynne and protected him...she is worthless. She should be in jail right beside Hoots

TheTruthComesout wrote:And yes Kaitlynnes so called mother is pregnant with another loser> what makes me sick is her family is making her seem like a victim also..The only victims in the whole thing are the kids..she made the choice to be with him and take him over her kids..looked past the bruises on kaitlynne and protected him...she is worthless. She should be in jail right beside Hoots

What is it about these women who pick a worthless piece of shit man over their own child?? Kaitlynne was absolutely adorable. I had a very hard time watching the You Tube.

And, TheTruthComesout.

_________________Prayers for our little HaLeigh Cummings, wherever she may be!!

TheTruthComesout wrote:And yes Kaitlynnes so called mother is pregnant with another loser> what makes me sick is her family is making her seem like a victim also..The only victims in the whole thing are the kids..she made the choice to be with him and take him over her kids..looked past the bruises on kaitlynne and protected him...she is worthless. She should be in jail right beside Hoots

What is it about these women who pick a worthless piece of shit man over their own child?? Kaitlynne was absolutely adorable. I had a very hard time watching the You Tube.

And, TheTruthComesout.

When will these women quit serving up their children on a plate to get "their itch scratched". I hate to be crude, but so many women cannot stand to be alone, that their children become invisible to them as the BF becomes their "crutch", as the boyfriend becomes more controlling, maybe because he pays the bills, maybe because a woman is afraid to leave an abusive BF, maybe the woman should NEVER have been a mother, like Antoinette' Davis or maybe the woman just cannot sleep alone.. How could ANY real mother watch their own child being abused, bruised, scared to death about what new "hurt" is around the corner.If I had been a single mother NO MAN would have lived with my children and I. I am their parent, I need to set a good example. How could I expect my children to grow up with morals if they were living with a mom that had a revolving door of BF's, in and out. Now I am not saying I am an angel, there might be some "couch bouncing" on weekends if my kids had been with their dad, but never when they would have been home. Call me old fashioned, I am not ashamed of the way I feel, I think once u become a parent that should be the most important thing in your life, even past the age of 18!! Mine are 29 and 25 but still "my kids".!!!!

The man police arrested in the death of a three-year-old Henry County toddler is close to sealing a plea deal that could soon set him free.

Kaitlynne Jennings was found unresponsive three years ago. Her autopsy showed two fractures to the skull, brain injury and a broken arm. Initially her mother's boyfriend blamed rough play with siblings, and a fall out of a bunk bed.

"I don't know that I could watch one of my children die in my arms knowing it was because of the abuse of someone else," said Cindi Mayberry, Kaitlynne's grandmother.

Now, almost three years after her three-year-old granddaughter's death, Cindi Mayberry's tears are tinged with more disbelief. The man arrested days after Kaitlynne died from brain injuries could soon walk out of jail as part of a plea deal the family rejects.

"Let it go to trial. Let them hear it and if they think he's innocent, fine, we'll accept that. But just to accept a plea bargain for neglect just because he didn't call an ambulance is not right," said Mayberry.

Henry County Prosecutor Kit Crane refused to discuss the tentative deal with Eyewitness News until after the September hearing on the case. It's the second time Crane has extended 32-year-old Jeremiah Hoots an offer.

The first one in November 2009 was met with community outrage and protests. A Judge rejected the deal and set the case for trial this week.

But Crane got the case moved to Wayne County because of pre-trial publicity and is now seeking an agreement there.

Jeremiah Hoots has remained in the Henry County Jail since his arrest. Kaitlynne's family fears under the plea deal and with time served, he could walk out a free man by December 2011, with nothing more than a neglect charge.

"He apparently, after this happened, took her upstairs, put her in her bed and he left. The little girl was battered and died and he did it," said Mayberry, who added, "We miss her."

The family says there have been conflicting stories regarding what happened to Kaitlynne. Still, they would rather take their chances on the case going before a jury and are circulating petitions.

Hoots declined to speak with us about his case.

Kaitlynne's mother has already plead guilty to neglect and agreed to testify against him.

Kaitlynne's father and grandmother are now circulating petitions to stop the plea deal before the September 9th hearing.

The case was moved. This is a new plea deal. This can not happen. On my way to research who the Judge and Prosecutors are in this case. I will post information on who we can write to. annacanna welcome to Victims Heartland. Your memorial is beautiful.

A sad saga that began nearly three years ago with the death of a three-year-old New Castle girl ended Wednesday with her mother's former boyfriend being sentenced to nine years in prison. It wasn't the resolution that survivors of Kaitlynne Jennings had hoped for.